Pounce of Affection
by zeaeevee
Summary: Tigress pounces on Po every chance she gets and runs off leaving the panda confused.


**Pounce of Affection**

Po was sitting under the Peach Tree of Heavenly wisdom, happily munching on some peaches he had picked off the tree. He was completely oblivious to the predator that hid in the tree after he had picked the peaches. She carefully observed her prey, waiting for the right moment. A few short minutes passed and without warning, she pounced on the unsuspecting panda, tackling him to the ground, causing him to yell in surprise and pain as he landed on his belly.

She didn't stay on his back for too long, as she gave a predatory growl close to his ear and dashed away from the dazed panda.

"Tigress?" Po asked, getting back into a sitting position after hearing the unmistakable growl of his feline companion. He looked around to see if he could find her. Unable to, he scratched his head in confusion. "…o…kaaaaayy…" he said, getting up and making his way back to the Jade Palace, still pondering on what just happened.

A few hours passed and Po had made his way to the Pool of Sacred Tears to meditate. Of course he brought a basket full of dumpling to snack on. He wouldn't be Po if he didn't. After stuffing his face and satisfying his stomach with about half the basket of dumplings, he prepared himself for his meditation. Sitting in a lotus position, he closed his eyes and began to meditate.

Once again, he was unaware of the predator stalking him. She watched him carefully as she waiting for him to fall into his mediation trance. When she was sure that enough time had passed, she attacked. Once again, catching her prey off guard as she tackled him onto his belly once again and causing him to scream again. Again, she didn't stay on his back for long as she did another growl close to his ear and quickly dashed away from the once more, dazed panda.

Po sat up and looked around. Still no sign of the feline.

"Okay… this is getting weird." He said, as he got up, picked up the basket and began to make his way back to the Jade Palace.

The next day during training, Po kept an eye on Tigress to see if there was anything different about her. Anything at all. He wasn't looking for anything in specific, just anything that would seem… NOT Tigress. But he couldn't find anything. She was as brutal as ever. The same old Tigress.

The week went by and the surprise pounce attacks continued. Po suspected… no… he **knew** it was Tigress, but he could never catch her since she would always catch him off guard. She knew when he would be on his guard and knew just when to get him off guard.

Then, one day, the predator decided to take the frontal approach on her prey.

Po was in the training hall courtyard, trying to perfect his new move. The predator saw him and began to make her move. She knew the others were in the village and that Master Shifu was meditating by the Moon Pool in the Hall of Heroes, and that he wouldn't come out if he heard the panda screaming unless he screamed out his name.

She got down on all fours and slowly approached her prey, allowing him a chance to spot her. While he was practicing some of the moves of his new move, he sees her approaching him from the corner of his eye. He stopped what he was doing and turned to face her.

"Oh, hey Tigress." He greeted her. She said nothing, and continued to slowly approach him, while keeping low to the ground.

"Um… Tigress? Are you… ok?" Po asked, as he nervously backed away slowly from the approaching tiger master. His paws up in front of him in defence.

"Look, Tigress, if I did something to upset you, then I'm sorry." He said, trying to protect himself from harm.

Tigress bared her teeth and growled loudly, as she made a mad dash towards the panda. Po screamed in surprise as the tiger master approached him at a surprising speed. Although he had seen her coming this time, he still wasn't prepared for the pain he'd feel when she jumped him. Po stumbled back in an attempt to get away, but Tigress was faster as she pounced on him, like she did all those other times. But this time, she had pounced on him from the front, causing the panda to land on his back and for her to sit on his belly.

Po looked up at her in shock. She looked down at him with a victory grin. It soon turned into a smile as she leaned down towards his ear, like the other times. Po shut his eyes tight, awaiting to hear the usual predatory growl. But what he heard caused his eyes to snap back open in utter shock. What he heard, was something he thought he'd never EVER hear from the hardcore Kung Fu Master. Instead of growling at him, she purred, loud enough for him to hear.

Tigress sat back up and observed the panda's reaction. She grinned in satisfaction at his stupefied expression. Her ears twitched as her sensitive hearing picked up the voices of their comrades returning from the village. In no time at all, like all the other times, she got off the panda and disappeared.

Po laid on the ground, still in shock at what just happened. When the others entered the courtyard, they noticed their panda friend sprawled on the ground. They didn't worry, and dismissed it as him taking a break from his training, or just being his usual lazy self, and made their way into the training hall.

Po still lay on the ground, looking up at the sky, his thoughts running a million miles, trying to comprehend what just happened and what was going on with the Tiger master.

"_I need to talk to Shifu." _He thought. _"I have to get to the bottom of this. Not that I don't enjoy the sudden attention from her, but I need to know."_

After a few more minutes he finally got up and made his way to the kitchen to get a snack.

The next day, after their morning training, Po was not surprised when he was pounced on by the tiger master. She still caught him off guard, but it was different than the other times. She had pounced on him from the front, like the previous day, and still to his surprise, purred into his ear, and was gone as quickly as she appeared.

"_That's it! I really need to talk to Shifu."_ Po thought, as he got up from his position. _"Something is definitely wrong with Tigress."_

Po waited until the sun was high in the sky to talk with his master, since that was the time Tigress usually had her hour cat nap, while basking in the warmth of the sun in the palace garden. He made sure that she was indeed there before going to find his master.

Po found Master Shifu in his usually spot by the Moon Pool, meditating.

"Master Shifu?" Po carefully approached his master, as he knew he didn't like to be disturbed from his meditation.

"This had better be important, Panda." Shifu stated, without moving from his position, or even opening his eyes to acknowledge the Dragon Warrior.

"Well… it kinda is… to me…" he replied, and paused for a while. "It's… Tigress."

That got the grandmaster's attention as his eyes snapped opened, but did not turn to face the Dragon Warrior.

"What about, Tigress?" He asked.

"Well… for the past week, she's been acting… kinda… weird… towards me." Po replied. Shifu's ear twitched, telling the panda to get to the point.

"She's been pouncing on me!" Po exclaimed. That got Shifu's full attention as he got up and turned to face the Dragon Warrior, placing his hands behind his back.

"She has?" Shifu asked. Po nodded in response. "What exactly does she do, when she pounces on you, Po?"

"Well…" Po started, scratching the back of his head. "For the longest while, she's pounced on me from the back, growled in my ear and ran off. It wasn't until recently, yesterday and this morning, that she started pouncing on me from the front. And the weird part of it is, instead of growling at me, she…" Po stopped, unsure if he should say.

"She what, panda?"

"She purred. She purred instead of growling." Po finished. Shifu inwardly gasp.

"Do you know why she's doing this to me?" he asked his master.

Shifu sighed. "Yes, Po. I do know why she's doing it." He replied. Po looked at him, waiting to hear what he had to tell him.

"She is using the 'Pounce of Affection' on you, Po." Shifu stated.

"The Pounce of Affection?" Po asked. "Is that some sort of Kung fu move?"

"It has nothing to do with kung fu, Po. It has to do with her feelings. You know as well as I do, that Tigress is not someone who is open with her emotions. As a cub, she once tried to use the Pounce of Affection on me to express her feelings of gratitude towards me. But with my level of training, she wasn't able to succeed. But for her to do it as many of the times as you have told me, on one person in specific, along with growling and purring, at her age now, she is letting her target know, that she has chosen him..." he paused, reluctant to say the next part. "That she has chosen him, to be her lifelong mate."

Po gasped at what he was just told. "Her… mate?" he asked, flabbergasted. "ME?!"

"Yes, Po. You." Shifu stated. "And do not ask me why. That is a question only she can answer."

Po stood there, still shocked from the information he had just received. His face flushed in a pink hue.

"Now Po, the only advice I can give you, is, in order to stop the pouncing, you have to catch her and tell her how you feel about her. It's the only way." Shifu told the stunned panda.

Po's blush darkened as he looked away from his master. He became a little scared of what Shifu would do to him, since he was indeed in love with the tiger master.

"Tell me, panda. How do you feel about my daughter?" Shifu eyed the panda, sensing his fear.

Po cringed. Hearing his Master refer to Tigress as his daughter, as he has never said it to anyone, not even to the tiger herself, made him even more fearful.

Po sighed. "Truth be told, Master Shifu, I've been in love with Tigress since the first time I saw her, when the Furious Five was revealed to the valley. My dad told me it was just a crush, and that I'd get over it in time. But I never did. Then when I was chosen as the Dragon Warrior and got to spend time with and get to know her better, my love for her only got stronger, and I knew it wasn't just a crush."

"And you still held those feelings for her, even after the way she treated you when you first came here?" Shifu asked, surprised by the panda's confession. Po simply nodded in reply. Shifu sighed again. "Po, if anything happens between you two, then you have my blessing. If you make Tigress happy, then I am happy."

"Thank you, Master Shifu, for everything." Po said, bowing toward his master, as he too bowed in returned. When they stood back straight again, Shifu made a gesture for him to get going. Po smiled and made his leave.

Shifu smiled as he watched the panda leave. _"You've made a fine choice, my daughter." _he thought as he went back to meditate.

Po knew he didn't need to look for Tigress, as she usually found him wherever he was. Especially when he was alone and she was sure no one would be around to see her.

He took a look at the sundial outside the Hall of Heroes, and saw that it was mid-afternoon. Tigress' nap would've been over by then, and it was also time for his afternoon meditation and practice of perfecting his Inner Peace. He made his way back to the Pool of Sacred Tears and began his training. A few hours passed by as the sun began to set behind the ridge of the Wu Dan Mountains.

Po finally opened his eyes after long hours of working on his Inner Peace, and sat down in the grassy plain of the mountain to have a snack. Once his stomach was satisfied, Po sat in a lotus position on the soft grass and began to meditate. Usually he wouldn't spend this much time training and or meditating, but he was doing this to give Tigress a chance to 'surprise' him.

Not too long after he got into his meditation position, did the tiger master show up and hid behind the giant rock not too far from where the Panda was sitting. Although the panda had fallen into his meditation trance, it was broken when he sense the presence of another being. Since he had done an extensive amount of Inner Peace training before his meditation, he was fully aware of the Tiger Master's presence, but pretended to still be in his mediation trance.

Tigress watched her prey intently, waiting for the right moment to strike. When she was sure that he was in his trance, she pounced. Po sensed this, but made no effort to stop her, until he felt her tackle him to ground. Po yelled in pain as he landed on his back. He may have sensed her, but her tackles were as vicious as ever. They were always painful whether he was ready for them or not.

Tigress purred as she sat on his belly and looked down at him with a smile.

Ignoring the pain from when she tackled him, Po quickly wrapped his arms around her, pinning her to his body before she could escape. This caught the tiger master off guard as she didn't expect him to catch her.

Po grinned up at her before capturing her lips in a loving kiss. This completely caught her off guard as her eyes widened in shock. She was definitely not expecting that. Before she could reciprocate, he pulled away. He looked up at her with a gentle smile and loving gazed. Tigress smiled back and purred, licking his cheek, and then nuzzling her head in his neck, as she lay on top of him, with his arms still wrapped securely around her.

"It seems that the huntress has been caught by her prey," Po stated with a chuckle.

Tigress chuckled, "It would seem so." She replied, settling more into his fur.

There was a moment of silence, as the two stayed in the same position.

"Why me?" Po asked, after a long pause.

Tigress lifted her head and gazed into the eyes of her chosen mate and smiled. She licked his cheek and neck a couple of time, earning her a moan of pleasure from the panda.

"There are too many answers for that question, my panda." She replied. "All you need to know now is that I have chosen you. And from that little gesture you pulled after capturing me, the same can be said for you choosing me." She smiled.

Po chuckled and leaned in to kiss her again. This time she was ready and leaned in to meet him in a loving and passionate kiss, as they lay on the grass, enjoying the loving embrace of their chosen mate.

Upon the roof of the Jade Palace, a red panda was looking up at the two with his spyglass. He sighed as he placed the spyglass down, and looked back up towards the mountains, a pleased smile upon his face.

"_I am proud of you, my daughter. You have found love. If I didn't know Po as well as I do, I would forbid the union of you two. But I know the Dragon Warrior will give you the love I so selfishly denied you, and that he'll protect you no matter what. Good luck to both of you."_

**END!**

* * *

**Published: 30.04.2013**

**Yea… just a little something that popped into my head. **

**Hope you all enjoyed it. **

**Please review as they are very much appreciated and helpful.**

**~Zea**


End file.
